The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

You know this already, of course: Carrie Fisher died yesterday at the age of 60. I got to see her one-woman Wishful Drinking show in DC many years ago, and damn she was funny. But you know this already, of course.

In a deeply divided country, adopting views on climate change that conflict with scientific evidence can actually be a rational choice. Liberals and conservatives frequently spend time with like-minded individuals, and people across the political spectrum may have a better chance of fitting in if they embrace shared partisan beliefs—regardless of whether those beliefs contradict scientific fact.

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

I have to be super quick this morning because my kid's school is doing this holiday thing and yes I know I should have done this last night, but you know what? Life is crazy.

Let's begin with the world totally unraveling. All on the same day, the Russian ambassador to Turkey is assassinated in Ankara by a Turkish policeman; a truck plows through a crowd of Christmas shoppers in Berlin, killing 12 people in what is probably an act of terrorism; and Donald Trump formally wins in the Electoral College's vote, despite last-ditch efforts to sway the electors.

As
some readers know, I’m a longtime advocate of humanists, atheists, and other
secular folks conspicuously sitting
out that Christian observance of Jesus’s birthday that monopolizes the last six
weeks of every year. I’m hardly the only one, but clearly “going Yule-free” is a
minority stance among nonreligious Americans. From time to time, seculars who
enjoy the holiday in whatever form – and who may resent my suggestions that by
doing so, they might be harming our community – pose a question along the lines
of, “But I like exchanging gifts with my loved ones. I like the decorations and
the songs. Hell, I like eggnog. What evidence do you have that nonreligious
people celebrating the holiday in some form is harmful?”

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

Here's something I didn't know: Religions are officially registered in Germany, and receive tax subsidies based on the size of their respective flocks. Of course Catholicism, Protestantism, and Judaism are there, as are Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses. Not legally recognized is Islam, which claims over 4 million adherents.

Dr. Kilmer’s Swamp Root Kidney medicine began in the mid-1870s and in time became a household name. It was the creation of Dr. S(ylvester) Andral Kilmer (1840–1924) who developed a line of patent remedies in Binghamton, New York.

Taken singly, Trump’s appointments are alarming. But taken as a whole they can be seen as part of a larger effort to undermine the institution of science, and to deprive it of its role in the public-policy debate.

A not insignificant percentage of humanists and secularists are strongly opposed to male circumcision, to the point of wanting to ban it. The vehemence of their opposition is not warranted by the evidence regarding the effects of circumcision: it is not medically necessary, but it is not harmful (assuming appropriate analgesics are used) and it provides small benefits.

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

You might have heard something about the CIA saying that, yeah, Russia definitely tried to tip the election for Trump by hacking the political parties and other major figures. Trump, who essentially is a walking conspiracy theory, dismissed the U.S. intelligence apparatus thusly:

Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card. It would be called conspiracy theory!

Do
you believe in ghosts? In psychic powers? In communication with the dead? In
alien abduction?

If
you do, you’re not alone. Belief in the weird and wacky – or “woo” as some sceptics
disparagingly call it – is as strong as ever. Science is taking huge strides
forward. Yet many of us continue to believe in stuff that, according to
science, is at best dubious and often downright absurd.

The last of America's first astronauts has left us, but propelled by their example we know that our future here on Earth compels us to keep reaching for the heavens. On behalf of a grateful nation, Godspeed, John Glenn.

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

Angela Merkel calls for a ban on full-face veils at a rabble-rousing speech for her party's conference, veering from her earlier position in which she advocated for bans only in the most specific circumstances when absolutely necessary. CFI, being the stalwarts for freedom of expression and belief that we are, responded:

“We strongly oppose allowing religions to dictate oppressive dress codes on women, but change must come by freeing women to choose their own style of dress — not by imposing bans,” said Michael De Dora, CFI’s director of government affairs. “Targeting Muslim religious practices is a distasteful and dangerous electoral ploy to appeal to rising right-wing sentiments. Civil liberties should never be subjected to political calculus,” he added.

Although not a precious gem like the diamond, the so-called “Herkimer diamond” is itself the focus of much attention. In June 2016 I was able to add to my collection of curious stones by searching for “Herkimers” at a mine in New York state and learning more about their natural and allegedly magical properties.

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

This past Sunday, 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch of North Carolina barged into Comet Ping Pong, a pizza joint in D.C., armed with an assault rifle, fired at least one shot, and declared he was there to "self-investigate" the conspiracy theory that Hillary Clinton and allies were using the restaurant as a child-sex trafficking front. Welch was arrested.

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

A little good news: It looks like the Russell Amendment, which would have allowed religiously-based discrimination by federal contractors, has died in conference. We dance on its grave:

“This is an even more important victory than it might seem,” said De Dora. “The incoming administration is being staffed by figures who enthusiastically endorse discriminatory measures like this one, and those being pushed through statehouses across the country. It is imperative that we build widespread resistance today so that we are better prepared to defend the secular nature of our government against the assaults of tomorrow.”

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

At the Arizona Daily Star, Gil Shapiro pens an op-ed on the threats to secularism posed by a Trump administration, and brings us in:

Eddie Tabash, a constitutional lawyer and Chair of the Center for Inquiry, our nation’s leading secular think tank stated, “We are concerned that Christianity will be used as an excuse if not a weapon to limit and deny many Americans their Constitutional rights.”

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

As many of us feared, anti-vaxxers have been emboldened by Trump's victory, particularly their quack pseudo-prophet, Andrew Wakefield, who apparently got to meet with Trump during the campaign, and who told STAT:

For the first time in a long time, I feel very positive about this, because Donald Trump is not beholden to the pharmaceutical industry. ... He didn’t rely upon [drug makers] to get him elected. And he’s a man who seems to speak his mind and act accordingly.